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Big mergers are in the news, with the union of telecom giant AT&T and vast multimedia firm Time Warner and Comcast’s $65 billion bid for 21st Century Fox being just two examples. With the recent Justice Department emphasis on corporate culture, it will be interesting to see what this season of merger mania means to compliance and culture.

Tom Fox looks at the recent scandal at Wells Fargo leading to the Consumer Finance Protection Board’s $185 fine and the firing of more than 5,000 employees after basically telling them: “It’s OK to break the law, as long as we make money.”

The days of viewing culture as a hazy intangible are over, given regulator interest in using the efficiency of cultural programs as benchmarks for everything from indictment decisions to penalties. Corporate culture, says Jose Tabuena, needs to be subject to performance benchmarks, like anything else.

The Compliance Week Europe conference is gearing up for action later this fall, so before you European compliance professionals take the summer off, take note—we are looking for speakers again! Compliance Week editor Matt Kelly has more inside about who we need, how to volunteer, and how to attend the conference just as a regular delegate.

The Compliance Week 2014 conference, happening May 19-21 in Washington, is shaping up to be another stellar summit meeting of all things risk, audit, and compliance. Keynote speakers include Jay Jorgensen, global compliance chief for Walmart, plus officials from the SEC and Justice Department. Other speakers include compliance executives from McDonald's, Adobe, AirBnB, Terex, International Paper, Aflac, the University of Miami, and elsewhere. Details inside.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has detailed its regulation and examination priorities for 2014. Examiners will focus on "high-risk" brokers, high-speed trading, cyber-security, crowdfunding portals, insider trading, and auditor independence. FINRA says it will also continue to look closely at brokers with a pattern of complaints or disclosures for sales practice abuses. More details inside.

Yes, sometimes the best response to an allegation of misconduct is to commission an external investigation—but in many cases, an internal investigation will do just as well. How can you assure objectivity and independence in those cases? Inside, Compliance Week Columnist José Tabuena explores internal audit's role in serving as the "reasonable person" whose expectations are what counts in court.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has issued new guidance on internal controls, ethics, and compliance to help its member countries implement anti-bribery strategies.The OECD Working Group on Bribery has issued "Good Practice Guidance on Internal Controls, Ethics, and Compliance," which calls for companies in the 38 countries that...